1. Field
Exemplary embodiments relate to an image forming apparatus for providing a user interface and a method thereof, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus that provides a user interface effectively according to whether a user manipulation is input or not, and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the development of electronic technologies, various office appliances are increasingly used. An image forming apparatus such as a printer, a scanner, and a multi function peripheral is a representative of the office appliances. The image forming apparatus may be purchased by an individual and may be used at home, and may commonly be used in an environment where a plurality of users exist like a company, a public office, and a research institute.
The image forming apparatus may provide user interfaces of various forms to allow users to select and execute various functions. Generally, a visual user interface displayed on a display may be used. The user may set various functions of the image forming apparatus through the user interface.
Some of the related-art image forming apparatuses may have a function of returning to an initial screen when the user leaves the image forming apparatus in the middle of performing a predetermined job and a predetermined time elapses.
In this case, since the image forming apparatus may return to the initial screen regardless of the user's intention, the user may need to go through a complicated process to reach the menu that they have used before, which causes inconvenience to the user. Since the values that the user has set according to characteristics of the apparatus may be deleted, the user may need to re-set the values again, which also causes inconvenience to the user.
In attempt to address the problems, a function of automatically returning to the initial screen may be set so as to be inactivated. However, in this case, a problem may result in that the menus and settings that the user has previously chosen may be inadvertently exposed to other users.
Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus and method for providing a user interface (UI) environment in which the apparatus can return to a screen of an uncompleted job with a simple input, and continue to perform the job.